This BLOG is about the Past of Hindi Films Specially Black and White Cinema We will refresh your memories by bringing out forgotten or unseen songs and clippings of film scenes We will try to give you as much information as we gather from our research.
This Blog was started as a one-man’s passion for film history but has now become an addiction for many music lovers who are equally passionate about Hindi films
Sanjeev Kumar ( 9 July 1938 – 6 November 1985) started his acting career as a theatre actor Hemade his film debut with a small role in Hum Hindustani in 1960, got his first break in hindi film as hero in Nishan which was directed by Aspi Irani.released in 1965 He did stunt films like Husn Aur Ishq, Ali Baba and Forty Thieves,Nishan, Smuggler and Gunehagar, Raja Aur Runk.He made his presence felt by his natural and down-to-earth performance as a doctor and as Sumita Sanyal’s lover in Ashirwaad. In 1968 heleft footprints of his talent in 'Sangharsh' opposite Dilip Kumar. In 1969, Hrishikesh Mukherjee cast him in a strong supporting role as hero Dharmendra’s friend in Satyakam..In 1970, the movie Khilona brought Samjeev Kumar recognition.
Gulzar first spotted him; later he cast him in the roles of older men in Koshish (1973), Aandhi (1975) and Mausam (1975) He never minded playing small roles or playing older roles. He played older roles and always cared about the scope of the roles.Sanjeev Kumar was an actor for all seasons. Be it comedy or tragedy, he could do it effortlessly.Sanjeev Kumar was known for his iconic roles in the films like Sholay, Trishul, Shikar, Pati Patni Aur Woh etc
Sanjeev Kumar was nominated for 14 Filmfare Awards, thrice as Best Supporting Actor and the remaining as Best Actor. He won the awards twice as Best Actor and once as Best Supporting Actor.He got 2 National Awards from the Govt.of India.
His role as Mirza Sajjad Ali, a chess-obsessed Lucknowi (citizen of Lucknow), in Satyajit Ray's classic Shatranj Ke Khilari (1977) exemplified that aspect. Perhaps his best remembered roles were in the blockbuster films Sholay (1975) and Trishul (1978). His portrayal of the character Thakur, from Sholay, released in August 1975 was one of his stellar performances. In Naya Din Nayi Raat (1974) he played Nine Roles ,Beside hindi films he has done many regional films in different languages including Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Sindhi and his mother tongue Gujarati.
Sanjeev Kumar lived life rough and had a strange premonition that he would die before he was 50, as no male member in his family had lived beyond 50. He was barely 46 when he died on November 6, 1985.
Song from Raja Aur Runk 1968
Song from Khilona 1970
Song of Manchali 1973
Song from Pati Patni Aur Woh
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This song appears in the 1955 hit musical comic Baap Re Baap directed and produced by A R Kardar. The movie starred Kishore Kumar, Chand Usmani. This song is a duet of Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhonsle, written by Jan Nisar Akhtar, and the music was composed by O P Nayyar.
During those times, there were no digital recording facilities like today, where if there is a mistake it can be rectified by computers. Those daysthere used to be only one microphone for the singers, and another for musicians.If the singers want to record a duet, one would sing his/her line, get away noiselessly for other singers to sing, and come again for their own part. And, if a musician makes a mistake, the whole track would be recorded again from the top. There was also no technique to alter the intensity of sound, if the sound was supposed to come from a distance, the singer had to stand away from the mic, slowly advancing towards it, to get the desired effect.
This song is significant in that Asha Bhonsle made a mistake in the middle of the song and late Kishore Kumar went ahead with the mistake in the song, without going for a retake. When the song was being recorded, Asha Bhonsle gave an alaap a second time, when it was not required. Kishore Kumar signaled her to go on and complete the song as it was. After the recording was over, he told everybody that he, being the hero of the movie, would place a hand on his heroine’s mouth, when that particular shot in the song would come. That was how the problem was resolved.
This song was picturized on Kishore Kumar and Chand Usmani on a Ghoda Gadi (a horse carriage). Watch this song video at 2:09 minute of this video, how brilliantly Kishore Kumar covers up the mistake made by Asha Bhonsle She started singing the part which was to be done by Kishore Kumar. But then she stopped abruptly. The music director wanted a second recording. But Kishore Kumar denied of recording the second time and as he was the hero of the film he did a cover up of that part by closing her mouth. What a genius! Kishore Kumar the legend.
Song of Baap Re Baap 1955
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One of these aborted projects was Gouri, launched in 1957. Guru Dutt Films Private Limited, fresh from the success of Pyaasa that year, announced a film in Bengali and English. Gouri was to have been directed by Guru Dutt and was billed as the acting debut of his wife, playback singer Geeta Dutt.
Gouri was set in the director’s favorite city, Kolkata. The plot revolves around a successful sculptor of Durga idols who meets a prostitute, who, to him, resembles the goddess. Moved by the woman’s plight, he marries her. They lead a blissful life until one of his friends starts blackmailing him. When his parents find out about their daughter-in-law’s past, they start mistreating her. The woman runs away.
Two scenes were filmed and music director SD Burman had recorded two songs when Guru Dutt stopped production.
Had Gouri been made, it would have been India’s first film in the Cinemascope format, rather than his Kaagaz ke Phool two years later.
Geeta Dutt in Gouri.
Gouri was one of Guru Dutt’s many incomplete projects. Nasreen Munni Kabir suggests in her biography Guru Dutt: A Life in Cinema that this indicated “an increasingly disillusioned and fractured state of mind”. Kabir writes, “Guru Dutt’s personal life was in turmoil, and he smoked and drank heavily.” This is borne out by lyricist Kaifi Azmi, who wrote the lyrics for 1959’s Kaagaz ke Phool. Azmi is quoted in the biography as saying, “What he wanted to say in the film [Kaagaz ke Phool] wasn’t clear. His mental state was like that, he wasn’t clear... There were more scenes that were edited out than remained in the completed film.”
Even as Kaagaz ke Phool was underway, Guru Dutt set his assistant, Niranjan, off on another project. The intended film, Raaz, was adapted from the Wilkie Collins classic tale The Woman in White. The film starred Sunil Dutt as an army doctor and Waheeda Rehman in the double role of twins.
Raaz moved in fits and starts, and Guru Dutt eventually replaced Sunil Dutt as the lead. Some scenes were shot in Shimla and two songs were recorded by composer RD Burman, who was making his debut. One track featured three dancing girls and was sung by Geeta Dutt, Asha Bhosle, and Shamshad Begum. But after shooting and editing five or six reels, Guru Dutt shelved the film since he was unhappy with the way it was shaping up.
Raaz, starring Guru Dutt and Waheeda Rehman.Another film that got shelved was a Bengali film 'Ek Tuku Chhua' a proposed adaptation of the novel 'Neel Kamal' written by Gulshan Nanda, which was to be directed by Sadiq. One scene was shot but the film was shelved, the reason is unknown.
According to Dutt’s other brother, Devi Dutt, Guru Dutt offered Niranjan another film after the Raaz debacle, titled Moti Ki Mausi and starring Tanuja and future scriptwriter Salim Khan. Moti Ki Mausi hit a wall after Niranjan died from alcohol-related complications.
Some of the projects did finally make it to the theatres with other producers, actors and directors. Professor (1962) was first announced by Guru Dutt a couple of years earlier as a story of a man too young to be a teacher and too old to love. It was to have been directed by Shashi Bhushan with Kishore Kumar and Waheeda Rehman in the leads. Dutt even asked Abrar Alvi to direct the film, but Alvi declined.
Alvi did, however, write the screenplay for the movie, which was eventually made by Lekh Tandon with Shammi Kapoor. Raj Khosla, Guru Dutt’s former assistant, re-worked the shelved Raaz as Woh Kaun Thi? in 1964 with Manoj Kumar and Sadhana.
Sadhana was also supposed to have starred in Picnic, with Guru Dutt. The project was to have been directed by RS Tara, with music by N Dutta. Unlike the other incomplete films, of which nothing remains because of our tragic ignorance of the importance of archiving and preservation, snippets of two songs from Picnic have survived. One is this lovely duet sung by Mohammed Rafi and Asha Bhosle.
Following the critically acclaimed Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962), Guru Dutt attempted an Arabian Nights-style adventure, which was to have been his first film in colour. In an essay titled Classics and Cash, Guru Dutt recalled the shock when he announced Kaneez sometime in 1962 or 1963. “I have been trolled by friends and critics for taking up Alibaba as my next film,” he wrote. “‘From a provocative social theme to Arabian Nights? What a fall, Guru!’ they kept on twitting me. I have to explain every time that I want to show that even Alibaba could be a subject with contemporary significance.
Kaneez was to have starred Simi Garewal. But this one also failed to make it to the finishing line and was shelved after initial filming. Garewal complained to the Cine Artists Association and ensured that she recovered her dues.
Simi Garewal in Kaneez.
The two films that Guru Dutt left unfinished at the time of his sudden death on October 10, 1964, were his own production, Baharen Phir Bhi Aayengi, and K Asif’s magnum opus, Love and God, an epic take on the Laila-Majnu tale starring Guru Dutt as Majnu and Nimmi as Laila. Dharmendra stepped into Baharen Phir Bhi Aayengi.
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Music Maestro Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma said in an interview that While composing a song, Dada would say, ‘Even if my songs flop, I will still create something new’. What Dada meant was, ‘I will not take the beaten path. I will not compose as per the existing trend. Even if my songs flop, I will still do something new’.Recall the song 'Tadbeer Se Bigdi Hui Taqdeer Bana De' was written as a Ghazal but he converted it to a club song. Sahir the lyricist of the song was not happy with this but Dada was sure that it would be a hit.Sahir then and there decided that he will never write again for S. D. Burman, but changed his mind after the song became super-hit and the film too was a big draw for the audience who used to return again and again.
Similar situation happened during the making of Jaal 1951 song 'Yeh raat ye Chandni'.' He transformed its Ghazal mood giving it a regular stressed beat. When he sang the tune to Sahir Ludhianvi, Sahir laughed. Sahir suggested that it should be sung by Talat but Sachin Da wanted Hemant Kumar.Even when the song was recorded by Hemant Kumar, Guru Dutt wanted to re-dub the song in Rafi Sahib’s voice.Dada stuck on to his choice and the song was a very big hit.
From 1930 to 1936, over these five to six years, he composed music fusing Indian classical music and folk music, which did not resemble anybody else’s. ”Listen to this Bengali song Mono Dukkhe Mori re Shubol (1934), composed and sung by him. This song is a Kirtan which used to be sung in semi-classical style but Sachin Da throws the words in the Bangal dialect that makes it more rural to the roots. The dialect is of East Bengal with some Sanskrit words used. Such songs are sung by boatmen from that part of the world.
Mono Dukkhe Mori re Shubol (1934)
His innovative tendency were visible as early as in 1934 during a Bengal Music Conference in 1934, inaugurated by Rabindranath Tagore, Sachin Dev Burman was asked to sing after Ustad Faiyaz Khan. Ustad Faiyaz Khan had finished with ‘Jhan, jhan, jhan…’, a song that spellbound the audience. Sachin Da began with the same song in Bangla, ‘Jhan, jhan, jhan – manjira baaje’. The audience roared in unison and Karta extended the song to last more than half an hour. Sukla Devi vividly remembers how Ustad Faiyaz Khan came to the stage and hugged Sachin Da. The same tune he used in the Buzdil(1951) song sung by Lata and asked Shailendra to keep same mukhda with a slight change in words. Listen to both version
Jhan jhan jhan manjira baje..S D Burman
jhan jhan jhan manjira baje by Lata from Buzdil 1951
One of the most marvelous experiments that Sachinda carried out was in the song O nighahen mastana (Paying Guest -1957). Young Kishore’s voice, supported by Asha Bhosle’s humming and alaap throughout the song, adds tremendous charm to the song.The unique thing about this song is that when the second antara gets over, the interlude music and the lights start fading out till the music can be hardly heard. While the remaining lights dim out, the third antara is sung in a softer tone.It is one of the most romantic songs ever created by any music director.
In another Navketan production Kala Pani, in the song Hum bekhudi mein tum ko pukare chale gaye. He used the rhythm of a ghazal in the mukhda and geet in the antara. This song was originally sung by Dada himself in Bengali,every body wanted Dada to sing this in hindi but he felt that rafi's voice will suit well to Dev Anand in this situation.one finds Rafi’s soothing voice with only a few instruments used by Dada – Sarangi, tabla, gunghroo, khadtal and harmonium.
Song from Kala Pani 1958
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